Waltham cop running Falmouth for Boston Children's Hospital

Friday

Jul 18, 2014 at 11:00 AMJul 18, 2014 at 12:51 PM

By Paul Crocettipcrocetti@wickedlocal.com

Alisha Diliberto, a Waltham Police officer running the Falmouth Road Race for Boston Children's Hospital, was originally nervous about fundraising. But with a full month to go before the race, she's blown away her $1,500 goal by nearly $1,000."It was a little overwhelming how quickly that number got up there," said Diliberto, 34, of Maynard.A number of Diliberto's relatives and friends have needed the hospital for their children."The care and treatment the kids got was amazing," Diliberto said.For example, her aunt and uncle had premature twins, and one spent the first couple of months of his life at Children's in the newborn ICU. Her aunt swears it's why he's alive, Diliberto said, and he's now a normal 5-year-old boy.In addition, one of the Waltham Police captains had twins that needed Children's services."You don't realize how many lives that hospital touched," Diliberto said.So she reached out to the hospital's running team, Miles for Miracles, and signed up. In addition to Falmouth, the organization fields runners for such events as the Boston Marathon and the Run to Remember. The team sends out weekly emails about training and holds weekly runs.The Miles for Miracles team goal for Falmouth is $110,000 and has already raised about $65,000, according to its website.There are 75 runners on the Miles for Miracles Falmouth team, according to Stacy Devine, associate director of special events for the Boston Children's Hospital Trust. The team has been a part of the charity program for the Falmouth Road Race since 2004.Miles for Miracles has raised close to $3 million this year in all its races combined.As of Tuesday, Diliberto had raised about $2,400 and is one of the top fundraisers on the team. She used the power of social media and word of mouth to help reach her total."Every little bit helps," she said.Diliberto has run Falmouth five times. There are a handful of runners from the Waltham and Watertown police departments doing this year's seven-mile race, scheduled for Aug. 17.Diliberto, a patrolman, got the running bug when she was at the police academy in 2006 and her class did a couple of road races together."I fell in love with it," Diliberto said, adding that she liked the challenges and the feeling of finishing.She started out doing 5Ks and 10Ks, and has since done a couple of half marathons, including the Walt Disney World Half Marathon this past January. She's planning to run the full Walt Disney World Marathon next January, with an eye on Boston in 2016.Like with her job, Diliberto notes that training has its up and downs."To train for distance, it's all about self-motivation," she said.But it helps when donors rally for her cause. Diliberto planned a fundraising event at Shoppers Café for Friday night that has morphed into a combination fundraiser, with raffles, and celebration of all that she's raised so far. She said it will give her an opportunity to thank people for their support."It's been very rewarding," she said.To visit Diliberto's fundraising website, go to http://tinyurl.com/ml26hsa.

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